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 enlarge | Director: John Irvin
Actors: Anthony Barrile, Michael Boatman, Don Cheadle, Michael Dolan, Don James
Studio: Lions Gate
Category: DVD
List Price: $9.98
Buy Used: $0.98
You Save: $9.00 (90%)
New (52) Used (87) Collectible (2) from $0.98
Avg. Customer Rating:  112 reviews
Sales Rank: 9833
Format: Anamorphic, Color, Dolby, Dvd-video, Widescreen, Ntsc
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 110
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.1 x 0.6
MPN: 028485114401
ISBN: 6306576061
UPC: 028485114401
EAN: 9786306576067
ASIN: 6300157563
Theatrical Release Date: August 28, 1987
Release Date: August 14, 2001
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Overrated July 8, 2005
2 out of 10 found this review helpful
This movie has been praised for it's technical depictions, and indeed the guns, uniforms and sounds of battle are quite realistic.
The problem is that everything that goes into making a movie; dialog, plotting, pace, acting, and especially directing, are all terrible. This makes the film seem quite unrealistic, with dialog composed with authentic slang, but with the atmosphere of a profane elementary school play from 1969.
I would also note that beyond the problems created by the lack of moviemaking skill plentifully in evidence, the movie tries to draw a heroic message not just from the men, but from a war that scarcely deserves it.
 Pass April 13, 2005
1 out of 16 found this review helpful
I watched many Vietnam War movies that came out when this one did. I passed at the time and glad that I did. Not that it is bad, it is just too melodramatic. Sure, a couple blood-and-guts scenes (a bit much then, run-for-the-mill now). But, they don't add anything and we really don't get into the parts. Just too detached.
Most accurate of the Vietnam movies March 14, 2005
18 out of 20 found this review helpful
As Full Metal Jacket was the most accurate portrayal of Marine Corps boot camp i've seen on film, Hamburger Hill was the most accurate depiction I've seen of small unit combat in Vietnam.
Those of us who were there appreciate this movie for what it is and more importantly, for what it isnt. It isn't a jingoistic flag waver (The Green Berets), a bad acid trip (Apocalypse Now), or an over reaching shakespearian melodrama in elephant grass (Platoon). It is simply an attempt to give a grunts eye view of a squad of soldiers during a single 10 day battle. In my view, it does so superbly. The sights, sounds (especially the crump of exploding mortar rounds) and chaotic confusion of combat are very well portrayed. I tend to believe this is why veterans generally like this movie and non veterans dont. Cinematically this movie perhaps isnt as compelling as the aforementioned films, but Hamburger Hill captures the "feel" of Vietnam far better than the others.
R. Hopkins
USMC Vietnam 1971
A second look reveals some shortcomings January 16, 2005
3 out of 11 found this review helpful
When I saw this movie back in the late 1980s I remember thinking that it was an outstanding portrayal of the Vietnam War. Nearly 20 years later, after seeing it again on DVD and having a chance to reconsider it, I'm afraid I've had to lower my review of it considerably. For starters, this movie takes a long time to get going. Most of the pre-battle scenes are pointless, as they fail to do much in the way of character development or add anything to the story. Then when we finally do get to the battle for "Hamburger Hill" the action scenes are short and the scenes in between fighting do almost nothing to enrich the story. I bought this thinking it was a movie that I'd watch several more times, but after seeing it again I have to say that I'm ulikely to ever pull this one off the shelf again.
 It's All Here October 31, 2004
32 out of 32 found this review helpful
I served three combat infantry tours in Vietnam, and this is the movie that best captures the realities of the U.S. military field experience there (the other movie that's worth seeing is the more recent "We Were Soldiers"). "Hamburger Hill" has the right music -- the soundtrack is full of songs I never knew the names of, but tunes that I remember hearing in Vietnam and that help to bring back the world as it was then.
You see the ubiquitous helicopters, although no movie, including this one, has ever used anywhere near the number of choppers that were actually used in Vietnam. I've seen as many as 100 around a major operation, but it's rare to see more than a dozen at a time in a movie. I would guess that the cost is prohibitive for movie makers. War is an expensive proposition.
No movie can convey the smells of a place, but "Hamburger Hill" comes close with its images of field conditions, and it catches everything else -- the sights, the sounds, the language, the cliches, the basic training knowledge common to all grunts, the attitudes toward those outside your unit -- including higher command, Vietnamese, media people, and politicians -- and even the social revolution that was rocking America while the troops, who fought for ground that would not be held, knew they would never be allowed to chase the enemy back to his lair, so next week, or next month, or next year you'd be fighting for the same hill again.
For those who were there, this movie takes you back. For those who weren't, this movie, better than any other, tells it like it was. There's a special place in heaven for writers and directors who make truthful art like this.
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